77-24-A2
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Nicaragua I[edit]
Transcript[edit]It's beginning to look as if recent attacks in public forums on Nicaragua are more than a coincidence and the U.S. may be the real target. I'll be right back. Do you sometimes find yourself making a mental note that some country seems to be more on the news than before? If you've had that feeling about our neighbor Nicaragua recently, you're right. For one thing, Nicaragua's President Anastasio Samosa had a heart attack earlier this year. Though he's recovering, it isn't clear who would succeed him if he becomes incapacitated. This uncertainty has encouraged opponents to step up their attacks. Some are straightforward political opponents in Nicaragua, the opposition party is guaranteed at least 40 percent of the seats in Congress. Others seem to have broader, more sinister motives, including the terrorist Santinista organization working within Nicaragua but closely allied with Castro's Cuba. Dating back to early 1976 a coalition of people and organizations dedicated to destabilizing the government of Nicaragua has been carrying on an intensive campaign, much of it right here in the United States. Before we examine that coalition, let's take a look at Nicaragua itself. Located between Honduras and Costa Rica, it's about the size of Iowa with a population a little over 2 million. That makes it the largest, most sparsely populated Central American country. Much of Nicaragua's natural resources remain undeveloped and its economy was disrupted in recent years by drought and the devastating earthquake of 1972. Its major export crops are coffee, cotton and sugarcane. Though it's a republic, Nicaragua has had military leaders for four decades. Just the same, it's never been known as a major violator of human rights. Keep that in mind for in recent months it has been getting a bad press over alleged human rights violations. Nicaragua has been a poor country with high illiteracy but progress has been made in recent years. Today 54 percent of its national budget goes to education, health and public works. The education budget has increased by 250 percent of the last seven years with a sharp rise in student enrollment at all levels. Nicaragua's growth rate is nearing six percent per year higher than most industrialized nations including ours. Also Nicaragua has been a staunch supporter of the United States in world forums and is strongly anti-communist. Who makes up the coalition which seems to have targeted Nicaragua? One group is called the North American Congress on Latin America. It was organized in 1966 by some marxists associated with a radical education project of Students for a Democratic Society, S.D.S. Among its basic tenets is the statement that quote “Ultimately the protracted struggle will be directed against United States imperialism.” Unquote. Many of its founding cadre are still with the North American Congress on Latin America. The organization is closely linked with Castro's Cuba. One of its leaders lectured on U.S. national defense in Havana two years ago. Two others are veterans of the notorious Vince Ramos Brigade, an offshoot of the terrorist Weather Underground. The group's statement of ideology published 10 years ago calls for revolutionary change throughout the Americas. More on Nicaragua, the United States and the leftists on my next broadcast. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.
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